Danity Kane

Is there life after Making the Band 3? The ladies from Danity Kane certainly hope so. This feisty quintet has already transformed from a reality show novelty act into a best-selling group thanks to the success of their eponymous debut album.

Appeal

Danity Kane is hot to the power of five. In addition to being sexier than TLC and having far better teeth than the Spice Girls, this sleek multicultural quintet also features two former NBA cheerleaders, hence providing enough fantasy fuel for any red-blooded American male. When it comes to gorgeous women, who doesn’t love strength in numbers?

Success

Get used to hearing Danity Kane’s name. This talented quintet hit the top of the charts on August 22, 2006, when their self-titled album debuted on Billboard’s No. 1 spot. The record has since sold over 433,990 domestically, thanks in part to red-hot singles like “Show Stopper,” featuring Yung Joc, and “Ride for You.”

“It shows the true testament of their fan base, people that watch the show and how hot the album is,” executive producer P. Diddy says. “The word of mouth on the album is so crazy. It's something out of nowhere.”

Industry expert Steve Lerner is quick to agree. "It's the culmination of many factors,” he says, “and Danity Kane actually brings back the excitement of what the music business is all about."

Danity Kane Biography

The genesis of Danity Kane began in 2004 when thousands of aspiring singers auditioned for MTV’s hit reality show, Making the Band 3. By then in its third go-around, the P. Diddy-produced show already created middling musical acts like O-Town and Da Band.

Luckily, the show had considerably more success with the program’s third incarnation, and after several rounds of cuts, they pared the lineup down to Aubrey Morgan O’Day (born February 11, 1984, in San Francisco, California), Shannon Rae Bex (born March 22, 1980, in Bend, Oregon), Dawn Angelique Richard (born August 5, 1983, in New Orleans, Louisiana), Aundrea Aurora Fimbres (born June 29, 1983, in Upland, California), and Wanita “D. Woods” Woodgette (born in 1983 in Springfield, Massachusetts).

dainty kane tours with bsb

Despite their disparate backgrounds, the girls managed to bond quickly, and their rigorous training culminated in a performance in front of 20,000 screaming fans at a Backstreet Boys concert. “We got really lucky,” Aundrea admits. “I think [Diddy] picked a really good combination of girls. We really even each other out. We’re not perfect all the time, but we’re really finding each other out.”

The group’s chemistry proved to be essential because, as Shannon admits, working with Diddy wasn’t always easy. “The beginning was the difficult part because you didn’t know where he was coming from,” she says. “It was a competition. He was hard on you. And as you go along, you’re forced to understand it ’cause you’re trying for this goal to make the band.”

danity kane’s “show stopper”

Fortunately, Diddy’s tough-as-nails approach made the group stronger, as evidenced by their first release, “Show Stopper,” a silky smooth single which debuted at No. 17 on the Billboard charts on August 4, 2006. The song, which eventually peaked at No. 8, surprised many fans of Making the Band 3 due to its urban sound. “I think, because we are coming from the show, you would expect us to have a very happy, poppy, bubblegum sound,” D. Woods explains. “We really wanted to tear that stereotype [up] right out the gate. We wanted to come in on that level and just be like, ‘Yeah, we here too.’”

danity kane’s “ride for you”

Danity Kane followed up the startling success of “Show Stopper” by allowing their fans and MySpace friends to select their second single. The result was “Ride for You,” a slower tempo song that climbed to No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and to No. 50 on Billboard’s list of Hot Digital Songs.

danity kane’s self-titled album

As successful as their first two singles may have been, nothing could have prepared the girls for the support they received for their self-titled debut album. Released on August 22, 2006, Danity Kane shocked music observers by selling over 90,000 albums on its first day of release and 234,000 by the end of its first week. Most amazingly, those dazzling numbers allowed the girls to claim the top spot on the Billboard charts -- an almost unheard of feat for a new group.